Jefferies analyst Randal Konik upgraded Planet Fitness (PLNT) to Buy from Hold and raised his price target for the shares to $75 from $49. The stock closed yesterday at $58.25. Planet Fitness is a platform for consumer aggregation "with tenets that resemble Amazon's successful model," Konik tells investors in a research note. Amazon.com's (AMZN) growth benefits from the shift to online consumption while Planet Fitness benefits from a growing wellness trend, contends the analyst. He calls Planet Fitness a platform, not a gym, and recommends looking at the company "through an Amazon prism." Planet Fitness' "attractive" pricing architecture, "large and growing" unit presence, advertising flywheel, expanding affinity network, and enhanced digital strategies "reduce frictional points with consumers, drive engagement, and widen the company's moat," Konik argues. He believes the company's valuation is justified with other platforms such as Amazon and Netflix (NFLX).

Some Democratic presidential candidates are weighing in on consumer privacy following the news that Google (GOOG, GOOGL) failed to inform consumers about a hidden microphone in its Nest security devices, Business Insider's Nick Bastone reports, citing statements from presidential hopefuls. California Senator Kamala Harris said, "Americans shouldn't have to fear that the products in their home could be spying on them", while Maryland Congressman John Delaney said, "We need to pass laws requiring the disclosure of privacy related issues beyond your portable devices, which is what everyone narrowly thinks. Alarm systems that are installed in people's homes, there are privacy implications related to them." Other publicly-traded companies in the space include Facebook (FB) and Amazon (AMZN), Reference Link

Needham sees 'real' chance for competing offer for Attunity. After Attunity (ATTU) announced an agreement to be acquired by Qlik in a deal valued at $560M, or $23.50 per share in cash, Needham analyst Jack Andrews called the timing "somewhat surprising" and said he believes "the chance of a competing offer is real." Andrews, who believes Attunity would gain more leverage as part of either a public cloud vendor like Amazon Web Services (AMZN), Microsoft's (MSFT) Azure, or Google Cloud (GOOGL) or a larger technology firm that wants to further increase its presence in software, contends that the deal price represents a meaningful discount to its peers. He keeps a Buy rating and $31 price target on Attunity shares.

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index subscribers to streaming media giant Netflix (NFLX) gave the service's original content score an 81 out of 100 recently, up 2.5% since the research firm's May 2018 report on the streaming sector, says Todd Spangler of Variety. "Netflix has a two-point edge over its next-closest competitor, HBO Now (T)," with Amazon (AMZN) Prime Video getting a 76 score and Hulu ( DIS, FOX, CMCSA) gaining a point to 75. CBS (CBS) All Access dropped to 75 and YouTube's (GOOG, GOOGL) originals maintained a score of 72, per the ASCI, added the report. Reference Link

CVS Health price target lowered to $68 from $80 at Loop Capital. Loop Capital analyst Andrew Wolf lowered his price target on CVS Health to $68 after its in-line Q4 earnings and FY19 guidance that was "well below" consensus amid "both industry and company-specific challenges". The analyst also keeps his Hold rating on the shares in spite of the low CVS valuation of 9.4-times forward earnings vs. historical average of 15.4-times in expectation of 2019 being a transition year for the company. Wolf points to the potential integration challenges of Aetna, changes in the Caremark business model that provides customers more drug price transparency, and continued struggles in its long-term care business.